


Intro to Interpreting Popular Music

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Abed comforts Annie when she can't sleep, F/F, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mid-Canon, Mostly Canon Compliant, Multi, Songfic, additional jeffbritta post finale fun now included, and Britta is called out for making googly eyes at Frankie, and Jeff and Britta sharing a sleeping bag, and domestic j/b because i have no self control, and now some post-canon trobed angst, and post-canon abedison reuinion, and soft abedison!! abed asks what annie's first impression of him was, jeffbritta bonus scene from the finale now included, maybe one day i'll write another pairing again but that's up to y'all, more jeffbritta taylor swift nonsense now included, new addition: Britta and Jeff share a soft moment when they wake up in the morning, now featuring Abed helping tipsy Jeff have his bi awakening!, now featuring s3 brittannie fluff, now showing: troy realizes that maybe he has feelings for his roommates, now with Annie and Britta making some discoveries!, now with s1 jeffbritta, plus post-s6 brittannie angst, plus! Troy and Abed on the camping trip from Paradigms, so far there's one where Britta and Jeff flirt at a bar, the pairing the song and when each ficlet occur will be listed in the chapter summaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 14,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23921440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: A collection of Community songfics.Used to be random pairings and songs, now mostly by request!
Relationships: Abed Nadir/Jeff Winger, Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Annie Edison/Abed Nadir, Annie Edison/Britta Perry, Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Frankie Dart/Britta Perry, Troy Barnes & Britta Perry, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 65
Kudos: 197





	1. Britta/Jeff: goodnight n go by Ariana Grande

**Author's Note:**

> this was an exercise to get myself excited to write again! I've been hitting a bit of creative block and wanted to give myself a little jumpstart. I hope you all enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta and Jeff find themselves falling into a pattern, despite Britta's resistance. Set in the middle of season 2.

“Jesus, why do you have to look at me like that?” Britta asked, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

“Look at you like what?” Jeff asked innocently, biting his lip again once he was done talking.

“See, like that! Ugh, it’s like you want us to make another mistake,” she grumbled.

He reached under the table to where she was sitting next to him and placed one hand on her knee. “What, like you don’t want to?”

Of course Britta should have known that going out for drinks with Jeff would end like this. There was no saying goodnight and going home alone when the two of them went out together.

“It’s not that I don’t  _ want  _ to. It’s that we shouldn’t.”

“C’mon, are you developing a conscious all of a sudden? What the study group doesn’t know won’t hurt them,” Jeff said sultrily.

“I hate you sometimes. You know that, right?” Britta said. Jeff’s hand had started traveling slowly up her thigh as they were inching closer together in the red vinyl booth.

“It’s what makes the sex so good,” he said, glancing down to her bright pink lips.

Britta made a face. “I’m not sure if good is the word for it…”

“Shut up Perry, you know you couldn’t stay away from me even if you wanted to.”

“That’s awfully arrogant of you,” she said. It was becoming impossible to ignore his hand creeping towards the waistband of her tights.

“My place or yours?” Jeff asked, close enough for his lips to brush against her ear.

An involuntary shiver went down Britta’s spine. “Yours. The heating is out at mine.”

“You know we always work up a sweat,” he said suggestively.

Britta shook her head and swatted his arm away from her. “Oh, knock it off. Let me finish my drink and then we’ll meet at yours.”

His hand retreated back to his lap, but he smiled triumphantly. “Can’t wait.”


	2. Abed & Annie: 4am by girl in red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie can't sleep, so she goes to Abed for help. Set the night before the finale.

“Abed?” Annie squeaked.

Her roommate turned around from where he was sitting on the couch. “Annie?”

She padded over to the couch and took a seat beside him. “What are you still doing up?” she asked.

“I don’t have anything going on tomorrow. And you know that I can function off of less sleep than the average human,” he replied.

“Oh. Right.” Annie hugged her knees tightly against her chest and sunk into the couch cushions.

“What are you still doing up?” Abed asked, turning off the Kickpuncher movie he was watching and looking over to Annie.

“The interview for my internship is tomorrow. I’m really nervous about it. I haven’t been able to fall asleep,” she explained.

He squinted as if he were assessing her. “You’re going to ace the interview, what are you really nervous about?”

Annie met Abed’s eyes and sighed. “I’m not nervous so much as scared. If I get it…that means leaving Greendale. What will that mean for the group? How will all of you take it? Will we all stay friends? How do I go out on my own?” she spilled, the words rushing out of her like a dam had just been broken.

“Annie, don’t take this the wrong way, but they’re going to be just fine without us,” he said.

“Wait, us?”

“Don’t tell the others, but I got a job working on a TV show in LA. It’s part fantasy, part IT Crowd, and part…me. I’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks,” Abed confided.

“Abed, that’s amazing! I always knew you would be the one of us to end up doing something great,” Annie said, leaning forward to embrace him.

He squeezed her back before letting go. “You know that there doesn’t have to be only one of us.”

Annie looked down and bit her lip. “I know.”

Abed reached over and patted her on the knee. “You’re going to be just fine. And so will they.”

She sighed. “I know. I just think too much.”

“I think that you think the right amount. It’s a big life change, spinning off into your own series. But I know you could attract a lot of viewers without splitting the audience of our current show,” Abed said.

Annie smiled. “Thanks, Abed.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you should probably try to sleep. You'll want to be rested for the interview. My melatonin is in the cabinet if you need it,” he said.

“I think I’ll be fine now,” his roommate said, leaning over to peck him on the cheek before standing up, “Good night. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Abed replied, smiling at her before picking up the remote to resume Kickpuncher.

“Make sure you get some sleep tonight, too.”

“No promises, but I’ll try.”

Annie shook her head, but headed back to her room. All of her worrisome thoughts had been put to rest, at least for the moment, so she fell onto her pastel comforter and drifted off to sleep before she could even turn the light off.


	3. Britta/Frankie: Stupid for You by Waterparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff calls Britta out for getting distracted by a certain new addition to the Save Greendale committee. Set during early season 6.

Britta found herself being more distracted than usual in committee meetings. Less able to focus, come up with ideas, and get her assigned tasks done. It hadn’t occurred to her why until one day when Jeff called her out on it.

“Britta! Get your shit together and stop making googly eyes at Frankie!”

She snapped out of her momentary daze. “What?”

The tall brunette sitting on the other end of the table looked down, a small blush creeping over her face. 

“You’ve been literally useless for the past few meetings. You start looking at Frankie and get this dumb little smile on your face and it doesn’t end until we all get up to leave,” Jeff said, exasperated. Britta looked to Annie and Chang for support, but they tactfully avoided her gaze.

“Well…I just zone out sometimes, that’s all. It’s been a stressful couple weeks, thank you very much.”

Jeff only sighed before continuing on with the meeting as usual. Britta did her best to stay attentive even though her mind remained otherwise occupied.

_ “Making googly eyes at Frankie?! I don’t even like women. I mean, I like women. I love women. But not like  _ that _. She just looks very nice. Her hair frames her face really nicely and there’s this gentle curve to her nose and her skin looks so smooth…” _

The committee meeting was over before she knew it, everyone gathering up their things and filing out of the library. Britta felt a swarm of butterflies form in her stomach as she reached out to tap Frankie on the arm.

“Hey…I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I didn’t think that I’d been making googly eyes or whatever,” she said.

The brunette gave a tight lipped smile, but waited a moment for the rest of the group to leave before responding.

“It’s okay. I’ve been told that I’m nice to look at,” she said.

Britta was stunned silent. “Yeah. I mean, you’re like a symphony for the eyes. But not in a weird way! Like I look at you and just feel like this sour note. And I don’t mean to look at you so much! I didn’t even realize I was doing it. And…I don’t know what I’m doing right now. I’m just gonna go now,” she sputtered, attempting to dart away after finishing. However, she was stopped by Frankie grabbed her by the forearm.

“Hold on, you are no sour note. If I’m a Bach symphony, then you're a Beethoven,” she said.

“Thanks, I think?”

Frankie cracked a smile. “You’re welcome.”

The two women looked at each other for a moment, Frankie still holding onto Britta’s arm.

“Um, do you maybe want to go get dinner?” the brunette asked eventually.

Britta gaped, her mouth trying to move into the shape of words, but failing. “Yeah. Yeah, I would like that.”

“Cool. Cool. You should pick the place, I’m still getting to know the town.” She finally released Britta’s arm. 

“Cool. I’ll text you an address,” the blonde said, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

Frankie nodded. “Great. I’ve got a few things to take care of back at the office, but I’ll meet you wherever. How about 7?”

“Perfect.”

“Excellent.”

Britta stared at the other woman in amazement for a moment before eventually moving on. “Great. Cool. See you there!” she said before scurrying out the door.

_ “God, I wish I wasn’t so stupid for her.” _


	4. Jeff/Abed: One of the Drunks by P!atD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abed helps Jeff in more than one way the night that they get drunk together. Set during s01e16 Communication Studies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this random thing is really putting me in some unexplored territory, huh

“Do you ever think about what it’s like to kiss another guy?” Jeff asked lazily. He was currently sprawled over the table in the middle of Abed’s dorm, feeling tipsy, but not quite drunk yet.

“Sometimes. But  you’re supposed to be thinking about Britta,” Abed said. He was lying on the ground with his legs propped up on the couch in front of him and reached for a photo of the blonde in question.

Jeff reached over and swatted at his arm. “Yeah, yeah. Sometimes when I drink, I just…I don’t always think about women.”

“But not when you’re sober?” Abed asked.

His friend paused to consider. “I guess sometimes when I’m sober. I just think about men a lot more when I’m drunk. Anyway, should we order a pizza?”

“Wait. No. This could be your movie moment awakening. You know…like in that one movie. Pop culture reference,” Abed said hazily.

“So what are you suggesting?” 

“If you wanted to, you could kiss me. I would be honored to be the gateway to your experimentation,” he said.

Jeff blinked. “Would you be okay with that?”

“Everyone wants to have a drunken same-sex experience in college. It’s on my college bucket list,” Abed said, nodding. 

His friend slowly sat up on the table. “Okay. Well. Come here, I guess.”

Abed practically slithered up the table and took a seat next to Jeff. “Cool, cool. Cool, cool, cool. Should we just go for it?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’ve never done this before. I mean, I’ve done this before. With women. But they’re smaller. Their mouths are smaller,” Jeff rambled.

“Same. Your mouth looks big,” Abed said, cracking up at nothing in particular.

“Ha, sure. I guess we just…” the brunet started. He reached one hand around to cup the side of his friend’s face and moved in slowly. Abed matched his motions and wrapped one arm around Jeff’s shoulders. After what might have been an eternity, their lips met cautiously. They each pressed in a little more for a second, but it was over before Jeff knew it.

“Maybe it’s just the booze talking, but that was…nice,” he said.

Abed nodded in agreement. “It was nice kissing someone larger and more authoritative than I am.”

Their hands retreated from one another, sitting in silence for a minute.

“Should we order that pizza?”

“Of course. Hopefully I can focus on Britta now,” Jeff said.

Abed smiled and patted him on the arm. “I’ll call it in. Are you good with quadruple cheese? What about stuffed crust?”

“Any and all is perfect,” Jeff said, smiling back as his friend got up. He picked up a loose photo of the friend he was supposed to be drunk dialing, hoping that getting his question answered would allow him to stop thinking about it.

He was still thinking about other guys.


	5. Jeff/Britta: Be Kind by Halsey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta has a question for Jeff while they're cuddling in the morning. Set sometime during season 2 prior to Paradigms of Human Memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is extremely soft because I wrote it last night when I realized it was the 10th anniversary of Modern Warfare. fellow J/B stans, I hope you enjoy

“You know that I want to believe that you’re a good person, right?” Britta asked. She was lying in bed with Jeff, the soft morning light pouring in through the blinds to illuminate where they were swaddled in his silk sheets.

“Humanity’s curse is to want to see the good in others, isn’t it?” Jeff asked in return.

She rolled her eyes at his pretentiousness, moving to lay her head on his chest. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms loosely around her. “You seem determined to prove to me that you’re a bad person. I can’t figure out why,” she elaborated.

He started to idly run one hand through her hair. “We’re both bad people. That’s why we’re doing this.”

“Maybe we’re not bad. We’re just broken,” Britta said softly, “You know this is more than just sex. We’re also friends. You can talk to me instead of trying to prove that you don’t have a kind bone in your body.”

“I don’t talk to anyone. Not in that way,” Jeff said.

Britta lifted herself up to look at his face. His eyes were squeezed shut, features contorted as if he were trying desperately to keep something in. 

“Hey. Look at me,” she commanded, resting one hand on the side of his face.

His eyelids fluttered open to meet her worried gaze. 

“I know you don’t want to open up, and that’s okay. You don’t have to. But you don’t have to push me away and hide from me, either. In fact, if we’re going to keep doing whatever it is that we’re doing, I can’t have you closing yourself off to this extreme,” she said.

“So I don’t have to open up, but I can’t close myself off. Isn’t that a paradox?” Jeff asked.

Britta huffed. “You know what I mean. You don’t have to tell me your deepest childhood traumas, but maybe stop locking your mouthwash in a safe,” she said, “and stop calling yourself a bad person. We’ve been over this before.”

He smiled gently. “Why are you so kind to me?”

“I’m kind to the people I love.”

Jeff tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and moved up, softly meeting her lips with his. 

“You really are the anti-Winger,” he said, still smiling, “That’s why you’re the worst.”

Britta socked him as hard as she could in the arm. “Hey!”

Jeff laughed, giving what could only be described as a shit-eating grin. “I’m kidding. We’re both solidly mediocre. We can’t be opposites if we’re in the middle,” he said.

“Fair enough,” Britta grumbled. She settled back down onto Jeff’s chest, him wrapping one arm around her. He started rubbing his thumb along the outside of her arm as he craned down to plant a kiss on the top of her head.

“Sorry. I should be kinder to the ones I love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this song really gets to me and makes me feel some type of way, I almost cried when it came up for Jeff and Britta. I might be doing another one of these tonight for Troy and Abed or a randomized pair, leave any other pairs you want to see down below! thanks for reading <3


	6. Troy/Abed: Sunkissed by khai dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troy and Abed plan their day together while on a study group camping trip. Set during the camping trip shown in Paradigms of Human Memory.

Troy sat up in his sleeping bag, stretching and yawning. He looked over to where his best friend was lying in an identical sleeping bag, the sunlight permeating the tent dappling his face. 

_“He looks so pretty like that,”_ Troy thought absently as he watched Abed sleeping peacefully. With no warning, his eyes suddenly shot open and he sat straight up.

“Ah! I mean, good morning, Abed,” Troy said as if he were trying to hide something.

“Good morning, Troy,” Abed replied, making eye contact with his tentmate before breaking into a chorus of “Troy and Abed in the moooorning!”

“What’s on the schedule for today?” 

“Well, Jeff said we’re hiking to the top of the mountain, but…I was kind of wondering if you wanted to split off and go see this waterfall instead,” Troy replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Cool, cool. Cool. Are we taking Britta or anyone else with us?” Abed asked.

“Well,” his friend started, voice cracking on the first word, “I was hoping we could go just the two of us.”

Abed gave a small smile. “Cool. Let’s get dressed facing away from each other. I packed Lucky Charms and powdered milk, so we can get a head start on finding the waterfall. Maybe we can meet up with the others at the top,” he suggested.

“Sounds great!” Troy said with a grin, “It’s been so long since we’ve had a day for just the two of us. I want to give you all my time today.”

“You’re not like any friend I’ve ever had, you know that, right?”

Troy felt his face begin to heat up. “Is that a good thing?”

“Of course it is. I've been waiting my whole life for a friend like you,” Abed said matter-of-factly, reaching across the tent to pat his friend’s knee.

“Good. I mean, great! I mean- I’ll get changed now,” Troy stuttered.

“I will too. I can’t wait to see this waterfall with you,” Abed said, smiling before turning around to start rummaging through his bag.

The sun hit the waves of his hair, making him look as though he had an angelic sort of glow around him. 

_I can’t think of anyone more lovely to spend my time with,”_ Troy thought, fighting back an excited grin as he turned around to begin preparing for their day.


	7. Britta/Jeff: please by Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta and Jeff share a moment on a long night of camping. Set sometime after season 2.

“Alright, well, I should probably get back to my tent,” Britta said with a yawn. She gave a little wave before moving to crawl out the exit of Jeff’s.

“Wait. Don't leave me. Please,” Jeff begged. It was uncharacteristic of him to voice what he wanted like that.

Britta turned around to see him lying on the floor of the tent, looking up at her with a certain kind of desperation. She was taken aback, knowing instantly that there were more implications in what he had said. He wanted more than just for her to get back into the sleeping bag with him.

“Okay,” she said quietly, crawling back and wiggling her way into the bag next to him. His arms wrapped around her tightly, pulling her close to his chest. She felt herself rise and fall along with each breath that he took, her own breathing pattern slowly morphing to match his.

“Are you alright?” she asked eventually, tracing her fingers along the outer edge of his arm.

“I don’t know. I should be. But everything has felt so…hollow lately,” Jeff said.

Britta nodded, burying her head into the crook of his neck.

“I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. I don’t think I wanted to stop seeing you at the end of sophomore year,” he continued.

“Oh.”

“I was scared. Scared of getting close to you and having a real adult relationship where I actually cared. A lot.”

“I guess I was scared of that, too. I mean, I didn’t want it. Not then,” Britta said.

Jeff craned down to press his lips to the top of her head for a moment. He drew back up, but squeezed her even more tightly.

“I’ll wait for you, if you want me to. Wait until you’re done being alone,” he said.

“Are you sure _you're_ done with that?” Britta asked, tilting her head up to look at him.

He smiled down at her sweetly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “I hope so.”


	8. Annie/Britta: Sports by Beach Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta finds herself questioning quite a few previously held beliefs. Set sometime during season 5.

Love was a word that Britta had always hated. Love was something that had only been used to hurt her before, whether it was by her parents or her friends or boyfriends of the past.

And then she let a certain brunette hospital administration student into her life.

It was hard to explain what it was about her that made Britta change her mind. Maybe it was how Annie looked at her in a way that no one had before, with complete and total adoration. Maybe it was her kind heart and how eager she was to help anyone who needed it. Maybe it was how she had pursued Britta in a way that no one had before; no games, no tricks, no contests. She’d earnestly approached the blonde and told her that she was a lesbian, and that Britta had been instrumental in helping her figure that out. Britta had been floored, honored to have been the gateway to this discovery.

And then she started thinking about how she might fit into that puzzle. Did straight women catch themselves gazing admiringly across the table at their friends? Did they notice how cute it was when their friends chewed on the ends of their purple pens, the color of their pink lip gloss and the lines at the corners of their mouths? Did they constantly find excuses to touch them, whether it was draping an arm over their shoulders or letting their thighs touch in a cafeteria booth or brushing their hands against one another while reaching for the same piece of paper?

The resounding answer from Britta’s minimal research was ‘no’. When she shared this information with Annie, the girl had been ecstatic. How lucky were they to embark on this journey of self-discovery together?

The only game they’d played was keeping things a secret from the rest of the group for as long as possible. ‘As long as possible’ turned out to be less than a week, but that didn’t matter. The rest of their friends were supportive, if a little surprised. Jeff in particular was still trying to work out how it had all happened. But even Shirley was happy for both of her friends, glad for them to be in a stable and committed relationship.

Maybe Britta had only found love to be overrated because she had never experienced it before in this pure form. She’d never come home after a long shift at the Vatican to warm food and an even warmer smile. She’d never fallen asleep next to someone without worrying if they would still be there in the morning. She’d never had someone to lift her up the way Annie did. Someone who would never let her fall apart.

So one night when her head was buried in the crook of Annie’s neck, letting the brunette run her hands through her golden curls, Britta let out a soft ‘I love you’ for the first time in a long time.

Her girlfriend smiled gently and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Britta’s temple. “I know,” she said, “You didn’t need to say it. I’ve known for quite a while.”

Britta smiled back and pulled Annie even closer. "I know. I just wanted to."


	9. Annie/Britta: Wishing It Was You by K. Flay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie comes back from D.C. with a new girlfriend. Britta isn't too happy about it. Set post-season 6 in a timeline where Annie and Britta dated before Annie left Greendale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst mode activated

“This is my new girlfriend, Sarah!”

Annie proudly introduced the tall, tan, and toned blonde, the rest of the group members who had been able to come to this little reunion starting to take turns shaking her hand and exchanging ‘nice to meet you’s.

Britta thought the girl looked a little _too_ perfect. She turned away, growing frustrated at how earnest and cheerful she seemed. It was easier to survey the other patrons of the dimly lit bar than to stare directly at this perfect, Grecian goddess sun. Even the concrete floor with its thin layer of grime and the walls plastered with neon beer signs were more appealing.

_“She’s just a nicer, hotter version of me,”_ she thought, grimacing as Sarah came up to her and flashed a broad smile.

“Hi, nice to meet you! You’re…Britta, right?” the girl asked. She stuck her hand out for a handshake.

Britta took it, gripping a little tighter than necessary. Her grimace became an almost angry smile.

“I am. It’s nice to meet you.”

If Britta’s behavior phased Sarah at all, she didn’t show it. “Nice to meet you, too! I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Of course you have,” Britta scoffed, dropping Sarah’s hand mid-shake.

“Britta…” the blonde had waited months to hear that voice say her name again, “can we please go talk outside for a moment?”

She gave Sarah and the rest of the group a tight lipped smile as she was led out of the bar by a determined Annie. They took a left out of the door to a small, secluded area next to the building with a dumpster tucked away neatly at the back of it. A single streetlamp at the entrance to the alcove was the only source of light, casting an orange glow all around the pair.

“So…are we really doing this out here?” Britta quipped.

“Yes! Even though, judging by your expression, I think we have different ideas of what ‘this’ is,” Annie said, noticing Britta’s lidded eyes and ever so slight lip bite.

“Okay, fine. I promise I’ll be nice to your girlfriend, yada yada, can we just-”

“No, Britta. It’s not that easy. I want you to know that you’re someone who is very special to me, and I hate to see you hurting like this,” Annie cut her off.

“I’m not hurting,” the blonde grumbled.

“Oh, so that’s why you tried to crush my girlfriend’s hand and got upset when she mentioned knowing a lot about you!?” the other woman exclaimed, dropping all pretenses of civility.

“No! I did that because it sucks that you went off to FBI school and got yourself an upgraded version of me!” Britta yelled. If anyone happened to be nearby or entering the bar, they definitely would have been able to hear her outburst.

Annie sighed. “Britta…you said that you were okay with letting me go. You told me that you didn’t want to hold me back,” she said softly.

“Yeah, well, I meant that in a ‘go forth and live your dreams’ way, not a ‘fall into the arms of some other chick’ way,” Britta said coldly.

The brunette looked up with her best doe eyes, reaching out to take both of Britta’s hands in her own. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Break up with fucking Sarah.”

Annie flinched, dropping the blonde’s hands almost instantly. “You know I’m not going to do that.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t know. I thought our goodbye kiss meant that you’d come back for me eventually. I thought it was a ‘see you later, alligator!’ and not a ‘fuck you, you’re gonna die alone!’ but I guess I was wrong,” Britta exclaimed, becoming nearly hysterical.

“Oh, Britta…”

“Seriously! Frankie moved into apartment 303 with me, but some part of me kinda thought you were gonna come back. I’d move back into the living room on the daybed, you’d take back your room. And we’d make dinner together on nights that I didn’t have to work at The Vatican. And watch movies with Frankie since there’s so much she hasn’t seen. And we would be happy,” Britta rambled. At this point, she felt as though there was nothing left to lose.

“Britta…you know there’s nothing here for me. I couldn’t be happy here in Colorado for the rest of my life. You said that’s why you let me go,” Annie said quietly.

“Yeah? That was before I saw fucking Sarah,” the blonde muttered.

“Her name doesn’t have that prefix, you’ve got to stop saying it!” Annie exclaimed, stomping one foot down.

Britta was inclined to throw back a saucy retort, but looked up and was caught off guard by the pleading expression on Annie’s face, the amount of pain in her eyes.

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” the brunette prodded.

Britta sighed. “Being mean to Sarah. None of this is her fault. It’s mine. I really thought I was ready to let you go.”

Annie bit her lip and nodded. “I’m sorry, too. I should have given you a heads up.”

“Nah, it’s not your fault. I am happy that you’re not moving back here. It’s only become more of a shit hole since you left,” the blonde joked. She was trying to keep things light, realizing that her anger wasn’t accomplishing anything. Annie wasn’t hers anymore. The least Britta could do was leave her with more good memories than bad.

The brunette gave a pained laugh. “I’m sure,” she said, meeting Britta’s gaze. She took a step forward, then another, then wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde and pulled her close.

“I really did miss you,” Annie whispered.

Britta brought her hands up to hold the other woman even closer, feeling a lump forming at the base of her throat. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Annie released her and took a step back - were those tears in her eyes? - and gestured to her left. “Shall we?”

Britta could only nod, knowing that once she was back inside, Jeff was going to ask her what was wrong, escort her to the little hallway between the sitting area and the bathrooms, and let her fall apart.

“We shall.”

Letting Annie lead the way was a mistake; a visual representation of how much further she was going to go in life. How much more she was going to accomplish. How she was going to leave Britta behind as nothing more than a pleasant memory, a girlfriend of days past. Maybe she would occasionally tell a funny story about this one ex of hers, about the time she led a mustard-based revolution or when she was a frontline photographer for a war of pillow fighting. And that was all she would be to Annie. That was how she would live on in her mind.

_“At least I have a brand new bottle of Jim Beam back at home.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this song/pairing combo was a request from tumblr! feel free to send requests [ here ](https://paradigmsofbrittaperry.tumblr.com/ask) or leave them in the comments! I'll do my best to get to all of them. thanks for reading, hope you all are doing well!


	10. Annie/Britta: You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie is jealous of Britta because she wants to be with all of the guys that she gets to be with. Right?
> 
> Set mid-season 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first of many Taylor Swift requests from my [ tumblr ](https://www.paradigmsofbrittaperry.tumblr.com) !!

Annie Edison wasn’t a judgmental person. At least, she liked to think that she wasn’t. So it confused her whenever she had judgmental thoughts about Britta. About the way she dressed, the way she wore her hair, or how outspoken she tended to be. But particularly, about her taste in men.

She thought that the blonde was too pretty for a washed up hippie like Vaughn. She was too kind for a rough and cynical person like Jeff. She was simply too good for all of the guys that came in and out of her orbit. How could Britta keep subjecting herself to that kind of incompatibility?

It confused Annie whenever she would feel a flash of white hot jealousy at seeing the blonde with any of her boyfriends or other assorted partners. Annie didn’t have the same awful taste in men, did she? There weren’t any other possibilities. She must have had feelings for Vaughn and Jeff and Rich and whoever else she happened to catch Britta with from week to week.

She kept this assumption intact until one day when she saw Britta’s boyfriend of the minute slap her backside as he was dropping her off in front of the Greendale library, the blonde giving him a disgruntled look in response.

 _“I’d treat her so much better than that,”_ Annie thought, stopping in her tracks and wrinkling her nose in his direction. She resumed walking towards the front door before quickly stopping again, taking a moment to consider the ramifications of her passing thought.

 _“I don’t want to…be with Britta, do I? Why would I even care that I could treat her better? I mean, I’m sure he doesn’t know the kind of music Britta likes or which NPR host is her favorite. But it doesn’t matter that I do, does it?”_ she pondered, still standing in place. Her postulating was interrupted by someone coming up next to her and tapping her on the shoulder.

“Hey, Annie! Everything okay?”

The brunette turned to see her friend standing next to her, a broad smile plastered on her face. The sun was making her hair look like it was practically glowing, causing Annie’s stomach to do a somersault.

“What are you doing with a guy like that? It seems like he doesn’t even understand you. None of your boyfriends do, while I’m right here, and I know everything about you! It doesn’t make any sense that-”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. Hold up. You don’t get to pass judgement on my love life when you’ve tried to date every romantic interest of mine that you’ve been aware of,” Britta said, holding up one hand to stop Annie from continuing.

Annie’s jaw dropped. Whatever common sense or filters she’d had in place flew out the window. “Britta, I only wanted them because they had been with you!”

“Yeah, we established that after our oil fight, but that still doesn’t give you any right to judge me for liking guys like them,” the blonde said defensively.

“Whatever,” Annie huffed, “Just forget I even said anything.”

She turned on her heel and continued on into the library, pushing the whole affair to the side and getting ready for a Biology study session.

But Annie’s words were rolling around in Britta’s head, the blonde taking time to fully process what she’d said.

 _“Did she say that she knew everything about me? Was she implying that she’d be a better boyfriend than Mark?”_ she wondered, only becoming more puzzled the more she thought about it.

It was hard to focus on studying with Annie sitting just across the table. Britta chewed on her bottom lip, trying to keep her gaze firmly locked on either her textbook or whoever was talking, given that it wasn’t Annie.

Maybe she’d had a point. Britta didn’t date guys who understood her. The closest she had come was Jeff, but that was only because they had been friends first. None of them understood her the way that this group did. And that happened to include Annie. She’d been right about that, unfortunately.

So had the answer to all of Britta’s relationship woes been in front of her the whole time? Not just metaphorically, literally right across the table from her? She’d considered dating other women before, but never too seriously or for too long. And now? She was looking at one of her closest friends in a whole new light simply because of a well-timed jealous outburst.

Jeff gave the meeting’s closing remarks and the group members all moved to pack up, Annie seeming to be in a particular rush to get out. Britta swiftly made her way around the table and reached out to take the brunette by the wrist.

“Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Annie squinted as she considered Britta’s offer. “Talk about what?”

Britta looked to her left then to her right, checking to make sure that the rest of the group had cleared out of the study room. “What you said earlier. I’ve been thinking…”

“I’m really sorry about that, I didn’t mean it! You’re right, I shouldn’t have been so judgmental. It’s your life, and you’re allowed to live it how you want to,” Annie said quickly.

“I was going to say that thinking about what you said made me decide to break up with Mark.”

A beat of silence passed.

“Oh.”

Britta gave the stunned brunette a gentle smile. “You were right. He doesn’t understand me. Maybe I belong with someone else,” she said casually, patting Annie gently on the shoulder before turning around and practically dashing out of the study room.

In spite of herself, Annie looked down at the ground and smiled.

 _“Her smile could light up a whole town,”_ she thought wistfully, pulling her backpack up by the straps and doing her best not to skip all the way out of the library.


	11. Annie/Abed: Enchanted by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abed has a question for Annie. Set sometime during season 5, Annie and Abed are in an established relationship.

“Hey, Annie?” Abed said softly.

She raised her head from where it had been resting on his chest so that she could look him in the eye. “Yes, Abed?”

He averted his gaze from the terrible movie they were watching (“You’ll like Miami Connection, it’s about a rock band that uses their kung fu skills to fight drug dealing ninjas,” he had told Annie before turning it on) and gently cupped her chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“What did you think of me when we first met?” he asked.

Annie thought for a moment, looking down and to the right. “I thought you seemed really nice. I remembered being a little skeptical when you invited me to join your study group, though. I was worried that you might have just wanted me for my grades,” she answered.

He nodded, his hand drifting idly down to his girlfriend’s waist. “Makes sense. I hope you know that even then, I saw you as more than a grade. You were an archetype that was essential for the group’s early success,” Abed said, pausing, “Of course, you grew to be so much more than that. We all did.”

Annie ‘aww’ed, wrapping her arms more tightly around him. “That’s sweet. I know this might sound a little…creepy, but do you want to know what I thought the first time I saw you?” she asked.

Abed tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean? You saw me before the first day of Spanish?”

“Yeah. At that new student mixer? The lame sort-of dance in the cafeteria?”

Recognition crossed his face and he nodded. “I remember that. I don’t remember seeing you, though.”

“You didn’t. I noticed you talking to a little group of people and they seemed so… enchanted by you. I was standing by myself in the corner, and I couldn’t stop imagining what would happen if you turned around and noticed me,” Annie explained wistfully.

Abed smiled gently. “What did you imagine would happen?”

“I thought it would be like a fairytale. You would ask if we had met before, and I would say no, but maybe that I’d seen you before in my dreams,” the brunette started, stopping to laugh at herself, “and you would reply with something witty, and we’d talk until a slow song came on. Then you’d offer me your hand and take me to the dance floor. And we would dance like there was no one else in the world,” she concluded, sighing almost dreamily.  
  
“I regret not noticing you that night,” Abed said, dropping a kiss on the top of Annie’s head.

“Aw, why?”

“I would have been just as enchanted by you. Then, we could have been doing this all along,” he said, ever so slightly shaking his head.

Annie craned up to kiss him on the cheek. “There’s no use thinking about all of that. We have each other now, and that’s what matters,” she said, smiling.

Abed smiled back. “You’re right. We have all the time in the world to keep enchanting each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first time writing straight up Abedison, I'm still trying to find their dynamic, so please let me know how I did/what could improve! I feel like they'd be a very sweet couple but I'm trying to nail down their voices in terms of how they talk to each other.


	12. Troy/Abed: the 1 by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troy sees a familiar face in the paper. Set about a year after the end of season 6.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, angst central station? hi, it’s Bri again.

Troy was sitting at a bus stop in London, reading that morning’s paper. A clause in Pierce’s will had dictated that he couldn’t own a mobile phone at any point during his journey, so buying printed materials whenever he was on land was his only way to keep up with what was going on in the world. It was alright by him. There wasn’t much he was missed from his old life. On paper, he had everything that anyone could ever want; endless funds, endless possible adventures to be had, the open ocean, and a nice boat with LeVar Burton to come back to every night. Sure, he missed his friends, but he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he saw them again.

That’s what Troy told himself. It’s what he was telling himself as he skimmed an article about the Cannes Film Festival and a familiar name jumped out at him.

_“Abed?!”_

Hungrily, he pulled the newspaper closer to his face to better inspect it.

“New visionary director Abed Nadir debuted his first feature film at Cannes this weekend,” Troy read aloud, soft enough that only he could hear. He continued scanning the article, his gaze landing on a small, grainy photo of Abed. It was black and white and the size of Troy’s thumb, but it was enough to stun him momentarily. His friend looked older. Not in a bad way. In the way that men who grow into their looks do, with a haircut that better suited him and more pronounced crow’s feet. He was wearing an obviously expensive and well tailored suit, his smile reaching his eyes, and was that Annie standing beside him? She looked even more beautiful than Troy remembered her being, hair falling in gentle curls around her face as she appeared to be laughing at something the photographer had said.

_“I miss them. So much,”_ Troy thought, having trouble processing seeing his friends for the first time in almost two years, even if they were grainy and monochrome.

He heard the screech of the bus pulling up to the stop and pulled the paper down from his face, folding it gently and tucking it under his arm. As he looked up, a tall man with dark hair in a well-tailored suit walked by. Troy took note of him, but didn’t think anything of it until a moment later when he felt his heart stop.

_“It couldn’t be…could it?”_ he thought incredulously. Getting his hopes up and not wanting to lose this opportunity, he quickly ducked out of the line to get on the bus and ran after the man.

“Abed?” he called out.

The man turned around, giving Troy a puzzled look and revealing that he was indeed, not Abed.

“Oh. Sorry, I thought you were someone else,” Troy grumbled. The man gave a curt nod before continuing down the sidewalk.

_“I wish that would have been him,”_ he thought, plodding as slowly as possible back to the bus, _“I’m glad he’s doing well for himself. But I wish the greatest love of my life wasn’t over yet.”_


	13. Annie/Abed: Back to December by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Abed reunite after months apart. Set post-finale in a timeline where Abed asked Annie to move to California with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the best descriptor I can think of for this ficlet is "soft angst", it took me forever to come up with something for this prompt, but I kind of really like the idea that I settled on. hope you all enjoy <3

“Abed?” Annie squeaked, having been caught off guard by the sight of her friend across the room. It had been so long since she’d seen his face.

“Abed!” she repeated, louder, more confidently. 

He turned from where he was standing on the other side of the small coffee shop and met her hopeful gaze, mouth turning up into a gentle smile. Annie rushed towards him, almost barreling into several other patrons in her haste. She didn’t have to think twice as her arms wrapped around his waist, his around her shoulders. 

“Hi, Annie,” Abed said hoarsely, barely above a whisper.

“Hi,” was all she could manage to say in the moment. 

As Abed moved to rest his head on top of hers, Annie thought that they might be like two missing puzzle pieces slotting right into place. Just as she was relaxing into the embrace, she felt him stiffen and pull back ever so slightly. She did her best to keep the pang of sadness she felt in her heart from crossing her face and instead gave her friend a shaky smile, beckoning him over to her table by the window. 

They settled down across from each other in the cold metal chairs, smiling at one another for a moment as they each waited for the other to initiate conversation. 

Abed broke first, taking a deep breath and folding his hands together in his lap. “How have you been?”

“Great,” Annie croaked, clearing her throat, “Amazing. I’ve loved living here for the past few months. There’s just something about big cities that’s kind of…magical.”

“I know what you mean. I like LA a lot more than I thought I would,” he replied.

Annie nodded. She briefly wondered if she would like LA as much as he did, even more than she liked DC. 

“So, I know you’re here to film a show, is it the same one you were working on in California?” she asked, fidgeting with the handle of her almost empty mug.

“No. I can’t say much because I had to sign an NDA, but I _can_ tell you that it’s an adaptation of a comic line for an industry juggernaut. Not exactly what I pictured myself working on, to be honest. It’s a good stepping stone, though,” Abed said nonchalantly.

“Abed! That’s amazing!” Annie squealed.

His relaxed smile broadened the slightest bit. “Thanks. I knew you would be happy to hear that.”

“Of course,” she said, smiling back, “I, um…I’ve had a bit of a harder time climbing the ladder. I’m still an intern. Trying to figure out if this is just another dead end,” she added with a nervous chuckle.

“Annie. There are no dead ends, only stepping stones,” Abed chided gently. He reached across the table to rest a hand on the one of hers that was fidgeting with the mug.

“I know. Um, not to switch gears so suddenly, but there’s, uh…kind of something that I wanted to talk to you about, in particular,” she said, summoning sudden courage and wanting to act on it before it disappeared.

“What is it?”

Annie felt like his deep brown eyes were searching her very soul as she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.

“I miss you. Like, an insane amount. And I can’t stop thinking about how things would have been different if I had just said yes…” she started, staving off tears for as long as she could and letting out a hiccup near the end of her incomplete statement.

Abed swiftly moved his chair to be beside Annie and placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. “Hey, hey. Shhhh, it’s okay. It’s okay. I miss you, too,” he said, looking down at the table as Annie was taking more deep breaths to recenter herself, “but you don’t have to beat yourself up over that. We both had to spin off, develop on our own for a little while.”

Annie looked up at her friend, feeling a rush of emotions that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in a long time. “But Abed, you told me that you wanted to spin off together. And I turned you down. All just so I could come here and get stuck in this stupid job for the stupid FBI when I could have been in California with you! I could have been working as a forensics consultant on CSI or something! And instead I…I turned you down,” she said, voice barely above a whisper by the end. 

“Annie…it’s okay. I was hurt at first, I know. I was hurt for a while. But eventually, I realized that I needed to let you go, whether I knew you would come back or not,” Abed said, “Besides, I’m sure that you’ve still had a lot of good experiences here. New friends, new job, living on your own and in a new place. Just because things aren’t forever doesn’t mean that they aren’t worthwhile.”

His friend laughed, ignoring the gentle tracks of tears running down her cheeks. “How do you always know exactly what to say?”

Abed smiled, moving one hand up to brush away her tears with his thumb. “Practice. Lots of practice,” he replied. 

“I know that it wasn’t not worthwhile. But I just wish I could go back in time and-”

Abed reached up and pressed a finger to Annie’s lips. “It’s okay. We have so many more seasons to have stories together,” he assured her.

She nodded, biting her lip as he pulled his hand away and let it drift back onto her shoulder. “Okay. I can't explain how relieved I am to hear that,” she said, timidly leaning towards Abed. He scooted his chair the slightest bit closer and relaxed his embrace enough to let Annie lean her head onto his shoulder. 

“Maybe season 8 will be our time,” Annie mused, trying to take in everything from the scent of his new cologne and freshly pressed shirt to the way his nimble fingers were squeezing her shoulders just in case this was her last chance to for a while.

Abed smiled down at her and pulled her as close to his chest as he could. “Maybe season 8 starts tonight.”


	14. Jeff/Britta: Holy Ground by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta reminisces on the past during a night out with Jeff. Set post-finale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on a prompt from iridiumprincess!!

“I’ll go get us drinks, what do you want?” Jeff asked, pointing at Britta.

“Vodka, neat,” she replied.

“Four olives?” he asked, a playful smirk tugging up the corners of his mouth.

“You know me so well,” Britta said with an unusually warm smile. Jeff nodded as he turned and strode towards the bar.

As she watched him walk away, Britta was overcome with a sort of sentimentality that was typically reserved for her cats. The two of them had come such a long way, hadn’t they? No doubt about it, they weren’t the same people that they were the day Jeff had spotted her across the quad and eventually approached her in the cafeteria.

They had each grown a lot since that first semester. Through pursuing her, Jeff had learned how to build genuine friendships with women. Britta was still proud of the fact that their relationship had been enough to change how he viewed an entire gender. And that was just after one semester together! The next eleven had been even better - gas leak year included - as they worked through their parental issues and self-imposed boundaries and various past and present traumas together. It wasn’t a stretch for Britta to say that Jeff was the group member that she had always been closest to, even if the intensity of their relationship ebbed and flowed over time.

They might not have always acted like the study group’s parents should have, but there was no denying that they had built a family. The two of them and Abed had brought everyone together in some crazy twist of fate. Maybe it wasn’t a twist, though. Maybe finding each other had been written in the stars. Maybe Britta was getting a little _too_ sentimental.

Whenever things went wrong, they ran right into each other’s arms. Their sophomore year escapades were something that Britta thought of embarrassingly often. It had felt like they were on top of the world and had the whole city to themselves, holding on as tightly as they could as everything else came crashing down around them. The very ground they walked on had been a sanctuary from all of Greendale’s insanity.

Britta sometimes wondered why they, too, had fallen apart. She was wondering it as she watched Jeff reaching across the bar to collect their drinks. She supposed it had been in the usual way; realizing the negative effect their actions were having on their friends, getting frustrated with each other’s stubborn natures, and deciding that it would be easier to end things than try to work through the hardship.

Maybe Britta regretted that. Did Jeff regret it? How might everything have been different if they had sat down on the study room couches and hashed things out instead of going home angry and alone?

They’d convinced themselves that what they had was more trouble than it was worth. Was that true? Hadn’t it been good, never looking down and finally doing more than just dancing around each other?

Jeff came back to the table and slid Britta’s olive-laden vodka over to her. She looked up and gave him a curious smile, gaze drifting over his shoulder to the four piece band playing on the bar’s makeshift stage.

“What is it?” he asked, one eyebrow quirking upwards.

“I want to dance,” Britta said, looking up to him with a certain amount of timidity.

“Well, it looks like there’s plenty of people over there that would love to-”

“No, Winger. I want to dance with you.”

Jeff looked at her, open mouthed, for what felt like a small eternity. But instead of refusing her request, he extended a hand to her and gave a genuine smile.

“Alright, then. Shall we?”

“We shall,” Britta said, feeling almost giddy as she took his hand and let him lead her to where other patrons were dancing in front of the band, joining them in swaying in time to the beat.

It felt like their sophomore year again, where they were the only ones on top of the world. Britta hoped that Jeff felt it too. Judging by the way he looked at her as his thumb brushed over her waist, she thought he might.

So they kept dancing for all that they’d been through. And Britta thought that she may never dance again unless she was with him.


	15. Troy/Abed/Annie: Crush by Tessa Violet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troy goes to Britta for help and gets a surprising diagnosis. Set sometime during season 4 in a universe where Troy and Britta aren't dating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on a prompt from [ Yellow_Bird_On_Richland ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellow_Bird_On_Richland/pseuds/Yellow_Bird_On_Richland) !! hope you all enjoy <3

“So, Troy, what did you want to talk about?” Britta asked, adjusting her glasses and taping her pen against her clipboard.

Troy sighed, shifting in in his chair and staring down at the Dreamatorium floor. “I’ve been…having some problems. I wanted to see if you had any ideas about what might be causing them.”

“Alright, then. Where do you want to start?”

“Well…I have been having trouble focusing lately,” Troy started.

“Focusing on what?” Britta prompted.

“Classwork, study group, homework…sometimes even on things like eating or watching TV,” he elaborated.

Britta scribbled down a few short notes, nodding along. “Hm. Have you had problems with focus and attention before?” she asked.

“Not really. I mean, maybe, but I’ve noticed it getting worse lately,” he said.

“Do you know if there’s anything pulling your attention away in those situations?” Britta asked.

“Nothing specific. I just can’t concentrate. Like the numbers will start floating in front of me if I’m trying to do math, or I’ll miss an important plot point if I’m rewatching Kickpuncher with Abed and Annie,” Troy replied.

Britta raised an eyebrow. “Abed and Annie…let’s talk about them.”

“What about them?”

“They’re in most of your classes, aren’t they?” she prompted.

“Well, yeah…”

“And they’re in the study group, yes?”

“Of course.”

“And you eat and watch TV with them-”

“What are you getting at, Britta?” Troy asked impatiently.

“I don’t know, maybe you’re just getting distracted because you’re talking to and goofing off with them,” she suggested.

“But I’ve been talking to and goofing off with them for years and never had this problem before!” Troy protested.

“Alright, alright…” Britta said, attempting to soothe him, “I was just trying to find things that all of the activities you listed have in common.”

“Uh huh,” Troy muttered.

“Okay, let’s go back to the basics. Do you think about anything specific when you’re zoning out?” she asked.

“Sometimes. Sometimes during the day, I think about what I’m going to do with Abed and Annie that night,” he said, “but I don’t think about anything in particular when I zone out while hanging out with them.”

“Interesting…”

“What’s interesting?”

“There’s Annie and Abed again,” Britta observed, taking down another note.

“Hey, what are you writing?!” Troy exclaimed, leaping up out of his seat and grabbing for her clipboard. She shrieked and hugged it tight to her chest.

“That’s confidential! My notes are for me and me only!”

Troy narrowed his eyes and settled back down. “Fine. Let’s just move on,” he requested.

Britta sighed. “Fine. Have you been having any other problems that you want to talk about?”

“I’ve been feeling more anxious lately,” Troy said, glad for the change of topic.

“In what situations do you feel anxious?”

“Usually when I have to text people. Like, I rewrite whatever I’m sending over and over again. And I’ve been overthinking a lot of things like that lately,” Troy explained.

“...with all people or certain people?” Britta asked skeptically.

Troy sighed. “Abed and Annie, mostly. Sometimes, I have trouble breathing and my heart rate goes up randomly and my cheeks feel warm whenever I’m around them, too.”

“Troy. You’re kidding, right?” Britta asked, eyeing him incredulously.

“What would I be kidding about?” he asked.

“I could be wrong here, but it sounds like you just like Abed and Annie! Like, have a crush them,” she proposed.

He stared at her in complete silence for a moment, stunned.

“Wha- I don’t…wait, do I?”

“Are you happier to see them than you are to see your other friends?” Britta asked.

“I mean, yeah. They’re my best friends, I love spending time with them.”

“Do you think they’re attractive?”

“Of course, who doesn’t?!”

“Do you think about them more than you think about other people?”

“Yeah…I already told you that I think about hanging out with them a lot whenever I can’t pay attention,” Troy said impatiently.

“What’s your phone background?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” he huffed.

“What’s your phone background, Troy?” Britta asked again.

He sighed. “A picture of me and Abed and Annie at the state fair,” Troy replied, turning on his phone and holding it out to show her.

She gave a wry and almost triumphant smile. “I’m not here to tell you how you feel, but…it really sounds like you might want to reflect on that. If you realize that it’s not the case, it might be something else that a licensed professional can help you with,” Britta said.

Troy nodded, trying not to get lost in his sudden onset of emotions. “Thanks, Britta. I think I have a lot to think about,” he said. She nodded, reaching out to pat him on the knee.

“I’m happy to help. As a mental health semi-professional and a friend,” she said.

Troy hid a snicker, placing his hand on top of Britta’s. “Of course. I’ll keep you updated.”

\---

Initially, Troy had planned on taking some time to think over him and Britta’s conversation and consider alternate explanations for everything they had discussed. However, this plan was immediately undone that night over dinner with his roommates.

“Troy, you’ve been pretty quiet tonight. Is everything okay?” Annie inquired, gazing across the table at him with concern.

“I think I like-like you and Abed!” he blurted out, immediately covering his mouth afterwards.

His roommates both stared at him - Annie with an open mouth and Abed with an intrigued expression - for several moments before they were able to say anything.

“That makes sense. I thought that this might be where our story would lead us,” Abed said.

“Wait, how does that make sense? I’m not upset, I just…how? How did you figure it out?” Annie stammered.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly sure if I did until just then. But saying it out loud kinda felt right,” Troy began to elaborate, “I talked to Britta today about some problems I’ve been having so that she could therapize me. I told her that I’ve been having trouble focusing on a lot of things and that I’ve been more anxious than usual. When I talked both of those things out, she realized that they were mostly happening when I was with you guys,” he explained.

“You told me that you were noticing an occasionally increased heart rate and flushed cheeks a few days ago, was that happening because of us?” Abed asked.

“Yeah,” Troy said sheepishly, “Whenever I’m not with you guys, I’m thinking about you guys. And when I’m with you guys, I can’t concentrate on anything else.”

Annie's face softened. “That’s really sweet, Troy,” she said, pausing to consider something, “So…maybe, hypothetically, if Abed and I happened to return these feelings…what would we do then?”

“We could date each other. Subvert the love triangle trope,” Abed suggested.

“Can we do that?” Troy asked timidly.

“Of course we can do that. We can do whatever makes us all happy. Stay roommates and friends, start dating, both, neither...anything,” he said.

Annie nodded. “This is…a lot to process. I need to take some time to think about some things…I hadn’t considered the idea that I might have feelings for you guys before,” she said.

“I’ve had feelings for you both for a while. I thought I was the pining main character in a romantic tragedy, though. I never thought about this being a real love story,” Abed said matter-of-factly.

“Really?!?!” Annie and Troy exclaimed in unison.

Abed shrugged. “Yeah. I love you guys as friends, but I also find you attractive and think it would be cool to go on dates and do other couple things.”

Troy smiled broadly, extending a hand to each of his roommates. “I love you guys as friends, too. Do you guys want to watch a Kickpuncher movie tonight and take some time to think about this before having another discussion about it?”

Annie nodded happily. “Sure, that sounds like a plan,” she said, taking the hand that had been offered to her and reaching her other out to Abed.

“I agree. Maybe we could watch Kickpuncher 8: The Last Punchkicker tonight,” Abed suggested, taking both of his roommates’ hands in his.

So the members of apartment 303 happily finished their dinner then piled on the couch, cuddling in the way they usually did while enjoying the horrific mess that was The Last Punchkicker. Miraculously, Troy found that he was finally able to concentrate on something; Abed’s arm around his shoulders and Annie leaning against his side. And he was more content than he had ever been.


	16. Jeff/Britta: Arms by Christina Perri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff comes back to the Vatican to see Britta after driving some of their friends home. Set immediately after the finale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! long time, no new songfics! this one was a request from tumblr that got me really inspired, I hope you all enjoy <3

“Hey there, stranger,” Britta said in a light, jovial tone.

The Vatican was empty except for her and Jeff, and all of the lights were off except for the one directly above the bar. He had driven Craig and Chang back to their respective homes, so Britta was surprised to see him strolling back in the front door.

“Hey there, little lady. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he replied with somewhat of a Southern twang and a sideways smirk. Britta gave him a mildly disgruntled look as she continued wiping down the counter.

Jeff chuckled, pulling out a stool from underneath the bar and taking a seat. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Nope. I just have to finish this and lock everything up,” Britta replied, then paused for a moment, “Is that the only reason you came back?”

“What? No. I…I wanted to talk to you. Like, without everyone else here. Alone,” Jeff said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Britta raised an eyebrow, now somewhat intrigued. “Talk about what?”

“Maybe we could do this after you’re done?”

She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, but ultimately nodded in agreement. “Sure. Give me just a minute.”

He nodded, pulling out his phone and fiddling with it as Britta finished wiping down the counter. After six years of watching Jeff play with his phone, she had learned how to tell if he was actually texting or only pretending to do so. At this moment, without a doubt, he was pretending.

Britta took the dirty rag and threw it into a bin before making her way back down the bar to her friend.

“Can I get you anything?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Do you really want the dregs of a pitcher of sangria that I made a few hours ago?” Britta asked, producing the pitcher in question from the shelf behind her.

Jeff rolled his eyes, but was unable to wipe the playful smile from his face. “Sure, why not? I feel like you’d make a pretty lethal sangria.”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Britta said with a glint in her eye. She took two glasses down from the rack behind her and split the liquid that remained in it between them. She slid one across the bar to Jeff before grabbing the other and making her way around it to sit next to him.

“So…what’s up?”

Jeff picked up his glass by the stem and took a long, slow swig of the drink before answering. “I think the world ended today.”

Britta tilted her head to the side, taking a sip from her own glass. “What makes you say that?”

“Everything feels wrong. I mean, we sent the last two of our friends away on a plane today. And everyone else barely said anything about it,” Jeff began to elaborate, “I think we’re in purgatory now. 40 years old, trapped in a small Colorado town at jobs we barely tolerate, all of our better and more virtuous friends gone, never to be seen again.”

“Speak for yourself, old man. I’m only 33,” Britta said with a sideways smirk.

Jeff rolled his eyes again. “Whatever. You get my point.”

“No, not really. I know it’s hard, but I thought that you had realized that Annie and Abed needed to leave and that it’s not a bad thing,” she said earnestly.

“I don’t know. Something about dropping them off at the airport made it final. And real. And once it was real…I couldn’t accept the fact that they needed to leave anymore,” Jeff said. He was swirling his glass around, staring intently at the spiraling liquid within. “It feels like the world is closing in on me, Britta. And I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“So you came back here because you want me to therapize you? I’d love to, but it’s kind of late for that-”

“No. I came back because you’re always the person I come to when it feels like the world is ending,” Jeff interjected, “You’re the only person who ever seems to see right through me and all my bullshit. I figured that you would just tell me that I was being melodramatic and that I’d go back to normal.”

Britta gave him a gentle smile and set her glass down on the bar so that she could reach over and place a hand on his shoulder. “Jeff…you’re not being melodramatic. You’re probably going through the stages of grief right now, which is perfectly normal in this situation. It’s normal to have a sense of world-ending dread when people you love leave.”

He snorted. “I thought you said it was too late for therapizing.”

“I guess not,” Britta said, still smiling and now rubbing her thumb along his shoulder, “but I’m serious. Don’t beat yourself up too much, you’ll only feel worse in the long run if you lock everything up to deal with it later.”

Jeff smiled down at the counter. “Do you remember that time when you broke into my old condo to steal a faucet for me?”

Britta stopped rubbing his shoulder and gave him a look of confusion. “Yes? But what does that have to do with this?”

“The moment when I opened the bag and you explained why you did it was the moment when I realized that I was in trouble. That you’d seen through my facade, and that I was falling,” he explained.

“Falling…?”

Jeff chuckled. “For you, Britts. It all started because of you, you know that, right?”

She blushed and looked down as soon as she felt his gaze lock onto her. “I mean…I guess. Because you were a gross guy and just wanted to get in my pants.”

“At the beginning, yes,” Jeff said, nodding thoughtfully, “But you know it became more than that.”

Britta was mildly taken aback. “Some part of me deep down knew, I guess. But I tried not to think about it,” she said.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Feelings make things…complicated.”

Jeff nodded in agreement, turning his head so that he was looking down at his half-empty sangria glass again. “Can’t argue with that,” he said, pausing before adding, “but you kept seeing through me when others couldn’t. It’s always been your gift. And I love and hate you for it.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Britta’s hand still resting on Jeff’s shoulder.

“You know, I think that even if we weren’t the only ones left, you’d still be my best friend,” she said, voice cracking as she broke the silence.

“And you only admit that _after_ everyone else was picked off one by one?” Jeff asked, clearly meaning for it to be a joke, but ultimately unable to mask the pain in his voice.

Britta looked back up at him and squeezed his shoulder. “Yeah. We both would have freaked out if I had said it any other time,” she said with a humorless laugh.

“It was always easier to let you go.”

She moved her head forward to get a better look at Jeff’s face. “Excuse me, what?”

He turned to meet her gaze, locking onto her bright blue eyes. “It was easier to let you go. After paintball, after sophomore year, after getting drunk and almost getting married _and_ after getting engaged for real. The idea of holding on was…scary. It took this recent painful letting go of our friends to realize that it’s not always the answer.”

“Are you saying…do you…do you want to hold on? To me, of all people?” Britta squeaked, still in disbelief.

Jeff laughed, a short, choppy laugh that said ‘well, duh’ in a way that didn’t seem condescending. “I’m not sure what you’re implying with that ‘of all people’, but yes. I do.”

“I was implying that I’m not the sort of person that one holds onto. Neither of us are,” Britta said, looking down, her tone almost wistful.

“But can’t people change?” Jeff asked. Britta met his gaze again to see that his eyes were glassy and that his lip was nearly trembling.

She took a deep breath. “I think you’re just freaking out about Annie and Abed actually being gone. You’re distracting yourself. This will blow over.” It sounded almost like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Jeff.

“And if it doesn’t?”

Britta bit her lip.

“You’re not gonna leave me too, are you, Britts?”

She inhaled slowly again. “I’m not planning on it. I’ve got nowhere else to go,” she said, cracking a small smile.

“Good,” Jeff said a little too quickly, “I mean, not that I don’t want you to have opportunities or a better place to go. I just…I don’t want you to leave.”

“I wouldn’t want to leave you, Jeff. I don’t think I could bring myself to leave behind everything from these past six years, as batshit crazy as they’ve been. And you’re a very large part of those years.”

“I mean, I don’t want to think that I’m holding you back…”

“You’re not,” Britta said quickly, “I don’t even have my degree yet, there’s no opportunities out there for me.”

“I have mine, and there’s none for me, either,” Jeff said. Britta was unsure if he was joking or being unusually candid.

“Well, I’m glad you came back tonight. I wouldn’t want you dealing with all of this alone,” she said.

“Me too. I didn’t like the thought of being alone in my apartment, and I didn’t like the thought of you being here alone here, either,” he said, “I know that you stayed strong for all of us these past few weeks. So, uh…just know that I’m here if you need to fall apart.”

Britta smiled warmly, her hand moving back over to clutch Jeff’s arm. “Thanks. I, um…I know from a psychological perspective that you’re probably just going through a lot and freaking out and stuff right now. But, if in a few weeks, you want to talk about that thing you mentioned earlier…you know where to find me,” she sputtered.

Jeff smiled back before leaning over to take Britta’s head gently between his hands and plant a kiss on her forehead. “Of course.”

She wanted so badly to lean in a little further and close the space between them. But she knew that it would be better if she didn’t. She was probably freaking out just like him and hadn’t allowed herself the proper time or space to process her friends leaving. That was definitely it, she didn’t _actually_ want to kiss her best friend. Freud probably had a theory to explain this away. Their feelings would pass and they’d be back to normal before they knew it.

“You know, in a way, you’re all that’s left of my first real home,” Jeff said in a soft, cracking voice, taking her hand in his and squeezing it.

Britta threw her free arm around him and pulled him as close as she could without falling off of her stool. “And you’re all that’s left of mine.”

Jeff let go of her hand to embrace her with both arms, Britta quickly moving to do the same. She gripped onto the fabric of his shirt as if he would disappear if she didn’t.

“I’ve never let anyone get this close,” he practically whispered into her ear.

Britta smiled and somehow found a way to hold on even tighter. “Me neither, Jeff. Me neither.”


	17. Jeff/Britta: Head & Heart by Joel Corry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Britta wakes up to find Jeff missing from her bed. Set sometime during season 2 before Paradigms of Human Memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is what I get for drinking an entire Jamocha shake at 11 pm. and this is probably a side effect of the sugar, not the caffeine. anyway!! hope you all enjoy my Jamocha shake-induced 3 am fluff based on one of my dad's favorite workout songs.

Britta stirred, her eyes fluttering open to see her room bathed in almost golden light. She reached one arm over in search of her kind of-boyfriend, but was disappointed to find that the space in the bed next to her was empty.

 _“Of course,”_ she thought, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

It was rare that Jeff would stay in bed until she woke up, usually slipping out at dawn to go back to his own apartment and get ready for the day. Britta did a good job of convincing herself that it didn’t bother her. Her head knew that there was nothing wrong with him leaving her alone in her own bed so that he could shower and do his 12-step skincare regimen. But her heart sometimes wished that one morning, when she looked to her left, Jeff would be there with his arms wrapped around her, looking at her fondly.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. She shouldn’t be thinking things like that, anyways. They were nothing more than ambiguous friends with benefits. Anything more would put the natural balance of the study group in jeopardy, which was something that everyone wanted to avoid.

Sighing, Britta pushed the covers off of herself and swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

 _“Wait…why does it smell like bacon?”_ she pondered, the distinct smell of her vegetarian bacon wafting into her bedroom. She stood up and stretching for a moment, indulging in another yawn before padding over to the door and pushing it open.

Much to Britta’s surprise, she wasn’t the only one in her apartment. Across the room, Jeff was standing over her stove in only his tank top and striped green boxers, his hair tousled and slightly damp.

“How’d you get in? I thought that I changed all the locks last week,” Britta teased. Jeff turned around to see her and gave her a positively radiant smile.

“Hey, Britts. I woke up really hungry and thought you might be, too,” he said, not bothering to address her comment, “Last night was…”

“Tiring. But amazing,” Britta finished his thought. She entered the kitchen area and came up behind Jeff, wrapping her arms around his comparatively massive frame.

He smirked, turning back around to tend to the bacon. “Precisely. I toasted some English muffins that I found in your pantry and decided to heat this up…I assume it’s not real from-a-pig bacon, but I’ll take anything at this point.”

“Correct,” Britta said. She adjusted her position so that she could rest her head on his back, nuzzling into the soft cotton fabric of his tank top.

Jeff turned off the burner, satisfied with how his not-bacon looked. He directed his gaze down to Britta and gave her an amused smile.

“This is new.”

“What’s new?” Britta asked innocently.

He took a moment to consider. “All of this, really. But you’re not usually one to be this affectionate.”

Britta gave the best shrug that she could in her current position. “I’m still sleepy, okay? Don’t judge me,” she grumbled.

“I’m not judging. Or saying that it’s bad. It’s just new,” Jeff replied. He set down the spatula he'd been holding and moved to twist himself around and hug her back.

Britta thought that her heart might beat right out of her chest as his arms wrapped around her, his thumb running down her side ever so gently. They stood in her kitchen for a moment, doing nothing more than holding onto one another. Jeff rubbed her back with one hand and stroked her hair with the other and Britta knew that she was done for. There was no pretending like they were mere friends with benefits at this point.

“Jeff?” she squeaked, lifting her head up so that she could see his face.

“Yes?”

“Did you stay just because you were hungry?”

His face twisted up into an almost disgruntled smirk. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Maybe,” Britta said, letting her head rest on his chest again, “but I want to hear you say it.”

That was a mistake. Because hearing Jeff’s voice crack as he said, “No. I stayed to see you too, Britts,” made her realize that she was officially in too deep. But swimming back to the shallows was no longer an option.

Britta smiled to herself and lifted her head up again. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool. Cool,” she murmured.

“Okay, Abed,” Jeff said lightly.

Before her head could tell her not to, Britta stood up on her tiptoes to press an almost chaste kiss to Jeff’s lips.

He smiled down at her, somewhat incredulously. “You never cease to amaze me, Perry.”

“Oh, all of this? It’s just because I haven’t had my coffee yet,” Britta said, trying to wave the consequences of her sentimental behavior away before any of them could settle in.

“You tried that excuse already,” Jeff said with a gentle laugh, “It’s okay. I admitted that I stayed here to see you, so you can admit that you have some kind of a heart hidden away in there,” he added, tapping her chest.

Britta’s eyes darted down to the ground. “Whatever. I guess I kind of like you, or something like that,” she grumbled.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Jeff asked, making a show of bringing up one hand to cup his ear in an attempt to hear her better.

“I like you, dumbass! But you better not push your luck, because I can change my mind,” she said, louder this time.

He chuckled, leaning down to be the one to initiate a kiss this time, making it slower and deeper than the last.

“We’re past that point, Perry. There’s no going back.”

Britta rolled her eyes, but only sunk further into the embrace. “God, I hate it when you’re right.”


	18. Jeff/Britta: Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff and Britta walk to the library together. Set early in season 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a prompt request from tumblr!! there's two more of these in my queue, but feel free to send others with different pairing and songs (both Taylor Swift and non-Taylor Swift submissions are welcomed) over [here](https://paradigmsofbrittaperry.tumblr.com/ask) if you'd like! without further ado, hope you enjoy this little ficlet. <3

“After you.”

Britta narrowed her eyes at the sight of Jeff holding the door open and gesturing for her to walk ahead of him. After glaring at him for a moment, she relented, then stopped on the other side of the doorway to wait for him.

“Do you really think that holding the door open for me is going to make me want to sleep with you?” she scoffed.

Jeff shrugged. “Figured it couldn’t hurt. I’ve been told that women like a chivalrous man.”

Britta rolled her eyes as he let the door swing shut and sprung forward to catch up with her. “Well, chivalrous acts tend to have the opposite effect when they’re clearly a means to an end.”

They resumed walking side by side, passing by the bustling quad. For some reason, all of Greendale’s flowers were only just now getting around to blooming, making their surroundings much prettier than they had any right to be.

“How do you know that I didn’t just want to do something nice for you? It’s rather presumptuous of you to assume that I still only want to have sex with you.”

“I assumed because I’ve known guys like you before.”

“Oh, I don’t think that you’ve _ever_ known anyone like me.”

Britta turned to look at Jeff and shook her head. “I can assure you, I have. You all think you’re so special…”

“Admit it, you like that about me, don’t you?” he prodded.

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve noticed you sneaking glances during study sessions. You haven’t been able to get me off of your mind since the day we met,” Jeff said smugly.

“Who’s being presumptuous now?!” Britta exclaimed, impulsively swatting at his arm.

“Fine. If you really don’t like me and there’s no chance of this ever happening, then look me in my dazzling blue eyes and tell me so. I’ll drop the subject forever if you can.”

Gladly, she lifted her head, the words already on the tip of tongue. But they somehow got caught in the back of her throat when he tilted his head to one side and smirked at her.

He’d been a little right. Britta _hadn’t_ been able to get him off her mind since she first met him in the cafeteria. It sounded silly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that their chance meeting had somehow changed everything. She hated herself for feeling that way and hated the way his smirk was growing with every second that she took to prove him wrong and hated his stupid fucking blazers and track pants.

“There’s no chance of anything ever happening between us,” Britta said, setting her mouth into a thin line.

“But you like me?”

“Watch it, Winger. You’re on thin ice.”

The rest of their walk to the library was largely silent. Britta couldn't help but sneak a sideways glance at Jeff, taking note of his stupid smug smile and the light flush to his cheeks.

 _“Why couldn’t I just tell him that I don’t like him?”_ she wondered.

They reached the front steps, and Jeff bounded up first so that he could lunge for the door and pull it open.

“After you, Britta.”

She sighed in frustration, practically dragging her feet on her way up the stairs. He caught her eye for a moment as she approached the doorway, and she was hit with a sudden realization.

_“It’s his eyes. It’s his goddamn eyes.”_

She physically cringed at the thought. But something about looking into his eyes made her feel like maybe - just maybe - she might finally be coming home.


	19. Jeff/Britta: Afterglow by Taylor Swift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff and Britta enjoy a particularly lazy afternoon. Set mid-season 2.

“Do you ever wonder why we fight so much?” Britta asked, laying her head on Jeff’s chest.

“I wouldn’t call what we do fighting,” Jeff replied, beginning to idly run one hand through her hair.

“Sure. But you can admit that we treat each other like shit sometimes, right?”

He tried to shrug despite the fact that he was lying down with Britta resting on top of him. “I guess. It’s what we've always done, though. We tease each other. We bicker. It's just how we are.”

“But why?”

“Why all these questions this late in the afternoon?”

Britta turned to look up at him, rolling onto her side to get more comfortable. “I don’t know. I was just thinking that what we’ve been doing lately is kind of…nice. But I didn’t want to say it out loud.”

Jeff gave her a small smile. “It _has_ been nice, why didn’t you want to say it? And what does that have to do with us fighting?”

“I guess I thought that you might use it against me.”

“How so?”

Britta shrugged and flipped onto her stomach so that she could crawl up to Jeff’s eye level. “You know…make fun of me for having feelings or whatever. Use it to win our next argument.”

“You’re right, that sounds like something I would do.”

Britta snorted. “So my fears were well-founded, then?”

“I mean…” Jeff trailed off, meeting Britta’s unsure gaze, “in a way, yes. But you’re lucky.”

“And why is that?”

Jeff sighed. He wasn't great at expressing his feelings, so he rarely attempted to. But something about Britta made him want to keep trying to get better at it.

“Making you upset isn’t as fun as it used to be. Because…I like what we’re doing, too. And I like _you_. And I’d rather make you feel better than drag you down.”

A satisfied smirk tugged at the corners of Britta’s mouth. “Rather sappy for this early in the evening.”

“It’s still late afternoon,” Jeff protested, “so I can blame it on the fact that I’m just waking up from our afternoon nap.”

Britta laughed and shook her head. “Gotta blame it on something, right?”

Her laugh seemed almost pained, like she didn’t want him to agree with her. Like she didn’t want him to write off this moment as a mistake or a fluke. And, much to Jeff’s surprise, he didn’t, either.

“I guess I don’t _always_ have to blame it on something,” he said, wrapping one arm around her waist and using it to pull her in closer to him, “I like you. And I’d rather make you feel better than make you feel bad.”

Britta’s smile widened, and Jeff decided that he’d made the right call.

“Same here. I mean, arguing can be fun sometimes. But…I like whatever this is, too.”

“Yeah. Whatever this is,” Jeff echoed, leaning over to plant a kiss on her temple.

They laid in silence for a few moments, Britta scooting a little closer to him. He moved his arm up to rest underneath her head so that he could resume stroking her hair. After getting comfortable again, Britta's gaze turned up towards the ceiling and her expression went blank, making Jeff the tiniest bit concerned.

"Whatcha thinking about, Britts?"

“You ever wonder how this is gonna end?”

He blinked. “That’s a rather morbid thought.”

“Maybe. I don't know, my mind just...wandered," Britta said, turning away from the ceiling and back towards him.

"I don't think we have to worry about it. We'll still be friends no matter what happens, right?" Jeff reasoned.

"Right."

“And, not to keep being too sappy for this early in the evening, but...maybe we can keep this as a nice moment? Shelve this discussion for later and talk about something a little lighter?”

Britta readily nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, I don’t know why I said what I said.”

Jeff only pulled her closer to his chest. “You don’t have to apologize, it’s a fair question. I’d just rather enjoy _this_ right now.”

She settled against him once more, letting her head rest on his shoulder as he resumed stroking her hair. “Same here. This is better.”

Jeff let his free arm rest on top of Britta, who wrapped both of hers around his torso, squeezing him almost a little too tightly. But he didn't care. This was leagues better than talking about the potential end of their psuedo-relationship. This was better than drinking scotch alone or pretending to care about soccer. It was even better than lots of things Jeff actually enjoyed, because it was better than anything he had known in a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, another Taylor Swift Jeffbritta prompt. I can’t help that this is part of my brand at this point. 
> 
> *Joel McHale voice* eeeenyway, hope you all are doing well and aren’t tired of my shenanigans yet!! feel free to leave requests in the comments or in my [tumblr ask box](http://paradigmsofbrittaperry.tumblr.com/ask)!!


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